Women's Athletics

In the media today, athletic women are portrayed as “sexy” and model-like. One rarely sees a female athlete that is not considered at least “good-looking” featured on television or commercials, unless it is the Olympics. Male athletes get all of the publicity, with extensive media coverage, because of the premonition that athletic women can not sell television unless they are good looking. Is this true? It probably is, since what man does not want to check out the sexy women on television. Who, in today’s media and standards, would want to see an endorsement done by a relatively “ugly” woman?
Women, professionally, are considered to lack the extra competitiveness that makes male dominated sports popular. For example, in basketball, dunks and the legacy of the NBA make it a very entertaining and popular sport to watch. In contrast, I never hear anyone talking about the WNBA or any players from the WNBA. As my friend once said, “The WNBA is the NBA without dunks.” Even in high school and other levels of sports, women’s sports are considered to be secondary to male played sports. I remember everyone talking about the football and basketball teams in high school, yet all I heard about women wise was volleyball. Women in sports are thought to be too gentle and “touchy-feely” to play what many consider the entertaining sports like football and basketball.
Many of the now famous female competitors, like Danica Patrick, would definitely not be as popular as they are now if they did not have the looks to back up their talents. If a male driver had the same amount of wins and talent she has, the male driver would definitely not receive such national attention. Looks can easily accelerate a female athletes popularity quickly, yet there are many women with great talent who receive little or no attention. For example, Anna Kournikova, a famous female athlete, is good looking yet has no where near the skill that other tennis players have, yet she is a household name when it comes to women’s tennis. Can a normal person even name a great current women’s tennis player? For now, women athletes in the media are dominated by the better looking women, often overlooking their skills. Women’s athletics has improved in variety and respect, yet it is still no where close to the expectations and turnout of men’s sports.